A Very Sparrow Christmas
by Willofthewisp
Summary: Christmas at Shipwreck Cove...what could go wrong? Leave it to the crew of the Black Pearl visiting Captain Teague to make it a memorable holiday...and for Captain Teague to have a secret just waiting to be revealed. j/e, fluffy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! Do not own POTC, belongs to Disney. This is just a nice little Christmas story, somewhat fluffy. It will be three chapters long. "I Saw Three Ships" is a lesser-known Christmas song, but one of the very few that is still sung today. Also, while Christmas wasn't hyped up like it is today, and wasn't exactly a kid-oriented holiday (for England and the colonies, anyway), it did last twelve days until 6 Jan.**

**

* * *

**Hallowed ground in Teague's eyes, Elizabeth thought, tying off the last of the _Black Pearl_'s lines at Shipwreck Cove's treacherous harbor. Another of Gibbs' warnings of why the place came to be known as Shipwreck Cove in the first place resonated as mere mumbles in her already-cluttered mind. Like all his letters, Teague's invitation to them stated only the necessities—where, when, and how, but this one also said a surprise awaited the family, something which fueled Billy's imagination to no end.

"Hans, that boy we met in Eisleben? He says every Christmas his family chops down a tree and takes it in the house and decorates it!" he announced to anyone passing by him, practicing his own knot-tying while sitting on the pier, his wiry legs dangling over the side.

"What do they decorate it with?" Elizabeth asked.

"Apples, nuts, red paper. Anything! And they put silver on it! Do you think Teague will do something like that?"

"Only if the silver were imitation and the apples and nuts inedible," Jack said, handing Cora off to Gibbs to inspect Cotton's tying of one of the lines.

Once again, stating out loud what she was privately thinking, she thought, shooting an instinctive look up to make sure Gibbs had carried her daughter down the pier to dry land.

"What about some kind of present?" Billy tried again, running over to Jack.

"That might be a more logical train of thought to follow." He turned back and made sure Elizabeth was catching up to them. "The only surprise with which I would be personally satisfied with is if it just so happened that dear Captain Teague was indisposed and absent for the duration of the holiday," he muttered to Elizabeth.

"That's a shame," she made sure to say with enough dry intrigue. "He was so looking forward to presenting the Code to you."

Jack sniffed and shook his head as they all trekked up the jagged hills of Shipwreck City to Teague's cottage, nestled just past the cavernous terrain. Not trusting anyone with a one-year-old but herself, Elizabeth's thighs burned as she quickened her pace to retrieve Cora from Gibbs. Kissing the delicate dark eyebrows just below a head already filling with coarse brunette waves helped clear her head and calm her beating heart. Tomorrow morning, she kept repeating to herself.

* * *

Pintel and Ragetti brought up the rear of the crew, lingering back to whisper amongst themselves.

"I can taste that Roast Young Tom turkey now," Pintel said, smacking his lips and wiping some sweat from his brow. "Minced pies, oysters, larded geese…"

"Don't forget brandied peaches," Ragetti added.

"That Cap'n Teague's makin' us earn our Christmas dinner, comin' up all this way," Pintel grunted. "Say, we got everybody taken care of, right?" He nodded towards the sack Ragetti had slung over his back.

"Just got to take care of the kiddies."

"Kids is easy."

"And Miss Elizabeth."

"Oh, that shouldn't be too hard."

"And Cap'n Teague himself, of course."

Pintel looked up at Ragetti with squinted eyes.

"And, er, can't exactly say we're finished with Cap'n Jack either."

"Bloody hell! Just who did we scrounge up all them gifts for?" Pintel blurted, hushing himself afterwards so no one in front of them would hear.

"Gibbs and Cotton and Marty'll have a happy Christmas."

"What we going to get everybody when we're already here? And with tomorrow being Christmas Day?"

"I did have this poem I was working on," Ragetti started.

* * *

"I saw three ships come sailing in/on Christmas Day/on Christmas Day/I saw three ships come sailing in/on Christmas Day in the morning," Teague sang lightly, setting his guitar aside and sighing as he stood, stretching his arms.

"It's ready!" Maike bustled in, her arms and bosom smothered in a velvety green coat. She moved her arms every which way to reposition the coat to show off the hood and sleeves. "See? White fur trim, just like the books all say! You'll look so dashing in it."

"Not likely," was all the deep, throaty voice of Captain John Teague felt was necessary.

"Don't worry." She plopped the coat into an empty chair with a deep exhale and squeezed in between him and his arm. "This is what it's all about, family, friends, all together and having a merry time…"

"…or choking the life out of each other." He leaned down and rested his cheek on her soft bed of hair. "Wish ye could see how it would all play out."

"Sometimes the past is a better thing to see than the future," she said.

With hawk-like precision, Teague spotted the familiar bandana and trinkets, the familiar gait, the familiar features ambling up to the front of the cottage, so like his own.

"Is that him? He looks just like you!"

"Much to his dismay." Teague refrained from the temptation to note just what features on Jack's face belonged to him and which belonged to Oria, that the olive skin, the long lashes, the flourish and foreignness of the boy's hands were all passed down from his mother. Summoning up an expression more suited for greeting company, Teague strolled down the steps of the house.

"There they are!" he growled, eyes twinkling, making sure to walk right past Jack and gather Billy and Cora in his arms.

"Happy Christmas, Captain Teague," Billy said with a nervous solemnity, holding out his hand.

Without a word, Teague lowered the boy's hand back to his side and picked him up by his waist. His giggles echoed down to the rocks.

"A happy one indeed!" Teague said. "My, you get bigger every time I see you. How ye been takin' care of the crew, eh? Still a formidable one?"

"I'm learning how to use this!" Billy whipped out his pocketknife.

"Good Lord, that is a beauty." Teague took it and looked it over. "I didn't have one of these until I was at least twice your height. That's a good knife to hold on to, to be sure."

"Looks like we won't be getting him a knife," he thought he heard…which was which…Pintel whisper to the taller one with the eye patch. Ragetti. That was right.

"And this one." Teague held Cora up higher. "Aw, don't let those delicate eyes fool you. This one'll be just as ferocious as her mum." He approached Elizabeth and gave her a slight bow. "How ye been, pretty bird?"

"Happy Christmas, Teague," Elizabeth said, edging forward and wrapping her arms around him.

"Staying all twelve days, am I right?"

"We're anxious to spend the holidays with you," she said. Perfect tact and grace meshed in with that pirate wildness, Teague thought, astounded as he always was when contemplating his daughter-in-law, noting how she neither answered the question nor snuck in any insult.

"Well, come in," he said, his burst of loquaciousness leaving him. "Everyone."

"Your letter said you had a surprise," Billy said, trotting up to Teague and taking hold of his hand.

"Billy…" Elizabeth began.

"No, no, Elizabeth. The Bavarians have it right. This should be a holiday for the lads and the lassies. I have a few surprises for you."

He brushed aside the fact Jackie had remained stoic for the greeting. It was just as well. Ushering them all inside, he took him by the arm and held him outside the door.

"Oy!"

"Where's me proper greeting?"

"With all other proper things, I'd venture," Jackie said, eyes pretending to search behind the house.

"Been holding up, Jackie?"

"Quite well."

"Ah. You do plan to stay until Twelfth Day, don't ye?" He inhaled. It was now or never.

"I might and I might not," Jackie said, squinting at him. "What is that to you?"

"Because I want ye to spend some time with your stepmum."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack rushed into the cottage. Sure enough, a small pine tree with some apples and biscuits and strips of silver met his eye, along with a petite woman with gray just beginning to streak along her blonde hair.

Elizabeth glanced over at him, her eyes filled with concern. She weaved through the group to make her way to him while he contemplated if it was better to meet her halfway or approach the stranger first.

"Jack," the woman said, coming over to him. He breathed a little. Hearing her call him Jackie might have been enough for him to let out a long, anguished shriek. "I'm Maike. It's an absolute pleasure. I'm so happy your family and your crew could come here for Christmas. I know how hard it is to scale those rocks." Her accent held a trace of English familiarity, pleasant to hear, he admitted to himself. No, he corrected himself. Don't start liking the usurping…usurper.

"How do you do?" he asked, removing his hat and tossing it over one of the hooks by the door. He picked up his sack and spun around the room looking for who had Cora at the moment. Ragetti. Good, Jack thought. That will make this easy. He turned his back to Maike…the woman, he corrected himself again, and gathered up his daughter. She cooed up at him and grinned, but he would return the affection later. "As anyone can tell, this little one needs to settle down and be tended to."

* * *

Elizabeth excused herself and followed Jack down the corridor to one of the guest rooms, the one usually reserved for them.

"Jack." She closed the door behind her and turned, only to bump right into Jack who was busy undoing her buttons. "Jack!"

"Not that. Cora's hungry, and those are for my and her eyes only." He tapped her exposed breasts and positioned Cora for her.  
"Jack…"

"Ah! The purpose of my being here rather than visiting. It's simple, darling. Throughout the years, Teague and his ilk, namely some thoughtless members of the crew, have not exercised discretion when it came to females and female…domestic issues. Thus, someone else must exercise discretion in order to prevent said parties from exercising indiscreetly." He stood with his back against the door while Elizabeth sat on the bed, Cora taking advantage of the situation.

"You should at least hear how they met and when they married," she said.

"All of that could have been explained in a letter."

"I think by now you realize that was the surprise he was referring to."

"Surprise!" He threw her a disgusted face. "Only he could associate surprise with bringing in a…" He searched the room for the right words. "A usurper!"

"She's a very hospitable usurper, at least," she said with a tentative smile.

"It's no use, Lizzie." Jack fell on the bed next to her with a sigh.

"This was a long way to come just to turn around and go…" He shook his head, staring up at the ceiling. Silence, not good, she thought. Pouting, she bumped his leg with hers. It might be prudent to give him his present now, especially since she had tortured herself for the last few months with thinking it up, planning how she would do it, and actually executing it. Finally ready to present and Christmas, in his mind, anyway, was ruined.

"I wish there was something I could do," she began.

"You could use your Kingly privileges and dismiss her."

"I should shove you for that."

"But seeing as you're occupied with other matters," he said, sitting up with a sly smile. "You'll just have to wait until your arms aren't so full." He caught her lips with his for a split second. "We won't leave."

"I should say not."

"After much thought and consideration." He stood. "I shall be civil to Teague." Waiting for her to nod, he continued. "And I shall refrain from being openly rude to that stranger he has bamboozled into thinking he's worth marrying, saving any slights against her for moments when my heirs are not present."

"A Christmas miracle," Elizabeth snapped, rolling her eyes.

* * *

Billy roamed the house with Teague, rummaging under beds and in bureau drawers, letting all his senses examine each exotic treasure—clay pots from far west of the colonies, French colognes, Indian sitars, obtuse-featured masks from the darkest, most hidden places in the world. And coins. Billy stacked them, tried to read the tiny inscriptions and value marks on each one.

"This one is a fake," he said, on his knees, holding up a gray, faded, cast coin.

"You sure?" Teague seemed to smile at his sober nod. "An eye for detail, you have."

"I hope so."

"How's that?"

Billy leaned over to Teague and framed his mouth with curved hands, perfect conspiring distance. "I'm giving Mum a painting for Christmas. The _Pearl_."

"Sounds like she couldn't have asked for a son with a better eye for detail," Teague said, stroking his chin.

"Don't tell her."

"Oh, no worries there. I give you my word as…" Teague trailed off as he held up his right hand.

"Not a gentleman."

"No! Certainly not. My word as Keeper of the Code."

Satisfied, Billy nodded again and scampered to his feet.

"Now, why don't you run out into the parlor and join everyone and I'll get this mess all straightened up, hmm?" Teague gathered the coins and let them sift through his fingers back into their box.

"I should help."

"Aye, normally. But you go on ahead." He hesitated at Billy's anxious expression. "I got to make sure Father Christmas didn't hide anything in here ye shouldn't be seeing, eh?" With brightened eyes, Billy ran out of the room, back through the corridor, and into the parlor where the new woman, Maike, his…step-step-grandmother, he supposed, was lighting candles on the dining table.

"Hello."

"Oh! You scared me!" She clutched her chest. Billy couldn't help but giggle just a tad; stealth was a mark of a true adventurer and explorer, and would surely come in handy when the time came for him to use his knife. She patted his shoulder and handed a long white candle to him, motioning for him to light the others in a wreath with it. Wincing at how hot the wax already was, he braced the table with his small hand and reached the wreath.

"That's a helpful boy," Maike said. "We'll have some plum pudding ready for tonight. I heard your grandpa tell me that was your favorite."

"He's not really my grandpa," Billy said, torn between hurting Teague's feelings and the truth. "He's my step…"

"I was filled in on everything, my dear." She smiled. "We're both so happy you were able to come join us for Christmas. You can come help me set the table if you like." He followed her into the kitchen where she handed him a large stack of dishes. "What's a helpful lad like yourself asked Father Christmas for this year?"

"Maike," he said, his voice wavering. She must have noticed, he thought, because she turned so attentively, so warmly. "Last time we made port, there were these older boys, and I heard them talking, and they were saying Father Christmas isn't real."

"They did?"

"But just now Teague talked about Father Christmas, too. You…you're from Bavaria, Teague said?" He took her silent, concerned face and her bent-over position as confirmation. "Did you ever see Father Christmas?"

"Oh, all the time, I did," she said with a hint of mystery, taking napkins out of the drawer and setting them on the counter. "Every year I saw that coat green as the forest and that beard white as the snow. We set out reisbrei on Christmas Eve while our mother put up the tree, and every time, Father Christmas came and put presents under it for us all. You know, Shipwreck Cove shouldn't be too hard for him to find."

Grinning, Billy took the napkins from her into the dining room.

* * *

"Blasted beads!" Pintel shouted, slamming a few of them down onto the hardwood floor. "Don't shush me," he said to Ragetti just as the other man brought his finger to his lips. "They don't want to stay on the string. Now how's we to make a fancy bracelet for Elizabeth if it's just a string with no beads?"

Ragetti lied sprawled on the floor, scratching words onto some scraps of parchment.

"What you workin' on?"

"I said I had a nice poem in mind. It looks mighty pretty all penned out." He blew on the parchment and held it up before him.

"Go on then. Let's hear it. Who's it for?"

"I thought for a long time, and I think it's best suited for the captain." Pintel let out a low whistle, sharing in Ragetti's trembling. "All right then, here I go." He cleared his throat. "It's a sonnet."

"Classy," Pintel said.

_"We sail around the whole big round wide world_

_Our ship goes round the world that is so wide_

_And when the waves rock and sway and some then curl,_

_We're glad you're captain, as sure as the tide._

_'Tho I got but one eye and me mate_

_Is quite short, we see a diamond in the rough._

_That we are your crew is a kind of fate_

_We are so glad you don't partake in snuff_

_We also are glad we're on the bejeweled vessel_

_The fastest ship in the entire sea_

_Thank you, Jack, for not viewing us as pest…els_

_We hope you've enjoyed being this poem's addressee_

_If this be error and upon me proved_

_I never writ, nor no man ever loved"_

Gibbs and Marty passed, oblong mugs in their hands, and rose bewildered eyebrows. Shaking their heads at them, they meandered into the dining area.

"Never mind. Ain't for them anyway," Pintel said with a wide grin.

"I borrowed the last two lines from the Bard, Shakespeare." Ragetti shrugged.

"I couldn't tell."

* * *

The last dinner dish was placed on the table right as the sun sank below the rocky cliffs of Shipwreck Cove. A few candles and lamps revealed roasted ducks and rabbits, pickled oysters, mincemeat pie, corn and plum puddings, pecans, chestnuts, and walnuts, sausage and mushrooms, with wines and brandies in hefty supply. After a most awkward grace led by Teague at the head of the table, the crew served themselves in silence.

"Is Cora napping?" Maike asked, spooning herself some nuts.

"Yes, a stroke of luck she's asleep just in time for supper," Elizabeth said, helping Billy cut up his sausage. "You didn't have to go to so much trouble with the feast. It's really too much."

"Speak for yourself, lass," Gibbs said, already cutting his meat. "There's something to be said for months and months at sea and then sitting down to a home-cooked meal. Much obliged Mrs. T." His eyes darted back to Jack. "Madame."

"It's no trouble," she said.

Jack felt a sharp nudge against his boot that felt like the end of Elizabeth's.

"No trouble, though it may be, it must have been a nigh-overwhelming task to do single-handed."

"Jackie…" Teague stared up from his brandy.

"Actually, the meal is a gift from both of us," Maike said. "John is a fine cook."

"Ah, my mistake. What was your name before you squandered…"

"Did you have any family before you married, Maike?" Elizabeth asked, rolling her eyes at Jack while she swallowed.

"Elizabeth, pretty bird that you are, there's a fine line between polite, civilized dinner talk and the witch hunt you're stalling," Teague snapped, his predatory eyes never leaving Jack. A hush fell on the dinner table, a few members of the party sipping their drinks and eyes downcast. Even Billy refrained from gobbling up the rest of his plum pudding, deciding it would make more noise than simply looping his spoon over it. In a moment of gumption, his eyes drifted upward to his left to see Jack had not moved, had not shown a noticeable reaction.

One by one, the guests resumed their meal, taking tinier bites than before. Billy swallowed a mouthful of plum pudding and smiled across the table to Maike, her eyes glistening above the flickering candles. The corners of her mouth turned up.

"Did you make the plum pudding?" he hissed in a loud whisper.

She nodded, gulping, her chin quivering. Rarely had Billy seen crying, other than his half-sister. There were memories, distant ones, of his mother crying into her pillow, so sure he was in the next room asleep. Thinking then tears could only stem from falling or bumping one's head on something, he ran over to her and hugged her, mimicking the soothing noises she made when she comforted him. Of course, he knew better now. Five was much, much more mature than whenever those memories began, and that had been before Cora, before Jack. Always looking forward to Jack's visits, it had been a dream come true when his mother came back with him from a quick voyage and told him Jack was now his stepfather…who also didn't look very happy at the moment.

* * *

"No sense in putting it on now," Teague grunted, hunched over a chair in his room, hands on his chin like a pouty child. He patted Maike's hands when they rested on his shoulders. "I'd like nothing more than to strike that kid of mine sometimes."

"We can't blame him for feeling the way he does," she said. "Besides, it will pass. There's still a little boy in the house that is beginning to doubt the very essence of Christmas. I'm sure his parents wouldn't be that opposed to you spreading some cheer and making him happy, hmm?"

Sighing, Teague rose and stared with folded arms at the enormous coat strewn over the bed.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I actually did a lot of research on how people in England the colonies celebrated Christmas, and stayed true to many of the customs. However, I was very disappointed to find out that virtually none of the carols we sing today were around back then. Even ones that were like "Joy to the World" had different melodies go with them. So if you know a lot about the history of Christmas and something doesn't add up to you, well…I fudged it. "I calculated the odds of this succeeding against the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid and I went ahead anyway," to quote _Mystery Science Theater_. I also ignored the fact that, back in the day, children, employees, etc, weren't expected to give gifts to those considered above them in station. Parents gave to children, bosses gave to employees/slaves, and wealthy lords threw parties and handed out extra food to people that worked on their lands, but no reciprocity was expected. But these are pirates, and they aren't much for tradition or convention.**

**Billy is Elizabeth and Will's son, and he is about five in this one. Eventually, she married Jack and Cora is their child, who is just at the one-year mark. Please see my other stories for more details.**

**Ragetti's sonnet…jeez, it took me almost as long to write that damn sonnet (it's supposed to be bad) as it took to write the entire story…borrows a couple of lines from Shakespeare's Sonnet 116.**


	3. Chapter 3

Jack rocked back in the chair on the porch, glancing over the hills down at the _Pearl _anchored in the dark harbor. Cora's waking cries had yanked him from the dinner table and outside with a handy bottle, right before he was about to let his temper take charge.

"I'd like nothing more than to strike that grandfather of yours sometimes," he muttered to Cora, setting her bottle down on a nearby table and positioning her over his shoulder, a mastered routine now, patting her back just right. He could feel her bringing her fists up to her face and at last heard a belch he could only describe as wet. Twitching, his face formed a grimace as he pulled her back and eyed the milky substance on his shirt.

"Nothing like the innocence of a child to brighten one's spirits…"

"Let me get that for you."

Maike stood at the threshold of the cottage, a towel in hand, silhouetted against the house lamps. Bending over him, she dabbed his shirt.

"Usually, I have one of those at the ready," Jack coughed.

"Well, after finding out you had a stepmother and being not at all pleased with your father's attitude, you're entitled to forget a thing or two," she said in a wistful, sing-song voice. "He's told me a lot about you, so much so I wish I had been a part of all the adventures before now."

"The impression he left with you was that he himself was a part of all those adventures?"

"No. He only told me what he could. But I have a talent for being able to see the past. It's rather easy to fill in the gaps."

"Why did you marry him?" he asked in a hushed whisper, laying the towel over his shoulder.

"May I?" she asked, with her hands out. After a moment's hesitation, Jack tossed the towel to her and leaned over, allowing her to take Cora in her arms. She stretched one of her arms for the bottle and continued to feed her. "Thank you. So sweet. I married your father for all the right reasons someone should marry. I'm not an innocent, Jack. Nor was I duped or seduced into anything. Your father and I know each other in such a way that almost demands we be married."

"That's a rather Biblical way of putting it."

"I don't mean just that way. Although…" She smiled to herself. "I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of soul mates. And I know it's sad that he and your mother weren't, but it wouldn't have been fair for us to deny being together. We could be happy, or we could be miserable, and we were both tired of feeling miserable." She exhaled and continued feeding Cora with shaking hands.

Taken aback, Jack shifted in his chair and pulled his coat tighter. "Seems a rather impervious thing to do as far as the dead are concerned," he said, yet could not maintain eye contact with her as he sputtered the words.

"And isn't the captain of the _Flying Dutchman _dead in your eyes?"

Ah, so Teague had let her in on everything he had known. A shiny, arrogant grin erupted.

"Since we're being so forward with one another, yes."

"And, regardless of the circumstances, you still married." She collected Cora up for another burping.

"Contrary to popular belief, or your belief," he said, "legally and honorably married."

"As are we, and I wouldn't expect anything less of you." She paused, narrowing her eyes and smirking. "Seeing as you're a good man, I know you would never put anyone in a position that would compromise their honor."

Opening his mouth, Jack snapped it shut and stared at the woman, a silent battle of wits commencing…and sadly one-sided, he thought.

"Come, Jack, I told you I could see the past, can see you're the kind that wants to know what everything tastes like."

True enough, that had been years ago, such a countless amount of treasured memories, private moments since then, and yet every time his face was within inches of Lizzie's, every time those spirited, sparkling eyes locked in on his, it was that conversation that echoed back to him.

Not about to be caught reminiscing, Jack held his head back in a frozen nod, chin rising.

"Mrs. Maike…Teague, you have proved a worthy opponent." He extended his hand, which she took in a firm but loving handshake.

"You'll want to go inside here in a minute," she said, bringing him close enough for her to stand on tiptoe and kiss his cheek. He followed her in where Billy ran straight into his legs. He gazed up at him with a wide grin and mouthed something.

"What's that?" he asked, leaning over.

"Father Christmas is here!" Billy covered his mouth with both his hands. Sitting in a plush, elaborate chair was Teague, smothered in a forest green coat with white fur trim and a matching hat. What looked like a powdered wig curled down from under his nose, leaving only the familiar black eyes poking out.

"So it is," Jack marveled, kneeling down. "I'd wager his lap looks a might empty, eh? What say you to paying him a visit?"

Billy looked at him as if he'd suggested the boy captain the _Pearl _all on his one-sy. After a moment's hesitation, he ran over to Teague and stood in front of him. The boisterous chatter obscured the exchange, and Jack strained to hear if his father would actually put on a voice or a disguised laugh.

"Is everything all right?" he heard, suddenly feeling Elizabeth's fingertips around his arm.

"Just taking in a sight I never thought I would." He nodded over at Billy finally climbing into Father Christmas' lap.

Elizabeth nestled into him more. "I heard him mention a thing or two we have stowed on board."

He grinned at the sound of a slight giggle in her voice, turning his neck to share a smile with her. He leaned in more than he intended as she took one of his locks and strung something into it. With a raised eyebrow, he pulled it to the front of his face to see a small vial filled to the halfway point with sand and a shard of glass in it.

"That's from the island where we were marooned," she said. "I went back to it and found some bottles still there, right where we left them. I had it etched. Turn it over. It's nothing original or fancy, but…"

"You're really something, love," he said, reading "I love you" etched into the glass. Throwing an arm over her, he pulled her closer to him. Winding her hair around his fingers and kissing her cheek, he felt reassured the sapphire earrings he'd found would look stunning on her.

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly/fa la la la la/la la la la," they heard, everyone gathering around Teague, who'd found his guitar and managed to strum out a song with Billy still on his lap. Gibbs held onto Cora, who seemed to be cooing in time with the carol. "Tis the season to be jolly/fa la la la la/la la la la!"

"Best be showing off our pipes, darling." Taking Elizabeth by the hand, they approached the chair, bumping into Ragetti, who was gulping at them and swaying side to side with a piece of paper in his hand. He motioned for Pintel to come next to him. Jack and Elizabeth exchanged a brief look, containing some weariness when Pintel clapped his hands together and cleared his throat.

"Cap'n? Ragetti's got quite the gift for ye this year!"

* * *

**A/N: Merry Christmas and I do not own POTC!**


End file.
